Study on carbide-bearing and carbide-free bainitic steels and their wear resistance

Carbide-free and carbide-bearing bainitic steels have been obtained. The relationship between the bainitic microstructure and wear resistance has been studied. Results show that carbide-free upper and lower bainitic microstructures obtained in the steel with Si + Al mainly consist of bainitic ferrite and retained austenite. Carbide-bearing upper and lower bainitic microstructures obtained in the steel without Si + Al consist of bainitic ferrite, carbide and trace amounts of retained austenite. The carbide-free bainite exhibits higher strength and toughness than carbide-bearing bainite, especially the toughness. Under lower wear loading, carbide-bearing lower bainite (LB) exhibits higher wear resistance. Under higher wear loading, carbide-free LB exhibits higher wear resistance, which results from the improved surface hardness due to strain-induced martensitic transformation from the retained austenite.